The Prince Update- September 23rd 2020
Our writer Richard Prince shares his regular horizon scan of the sector news, flagging up developments, new funding and opportunities in the social sector for portfolio careerists and others to be aware of.
NPC report - How much government funding has the charity sector really received?
Recently, the National Audit Office (NAO) has released a Covid-19 cost tracker which uses government data to ‘provide estimates of the cost of measures announced in response to the coronavirus pandemic and how much the government has spent on these measures so far.’ NPC, a think-tank and consultancy dedicated to the charity sector, have worked to try and understand the structure and actual final value of the government’s funding for charities tackling the crisis and this resource helps us to do that further and to understand how things have changed since the fund was initially announced.
Comment: this is important given the severe financial shortfalls facing the sector. From NPC’s article, it’s clearly very difficult to get a clear picture of how much funding has actually gone or might yet be directed to the sector
Huge group of communications professionals offer pro bono help to charities
A collective of freelance and furloughed communications professionals are offering to help charities overcome their coronavirus-related comms challenges. More than 1,500 freelancers and people furloughed by agencies have been brought together under an organisation called Good Brains for Good Brands. The company was set up by Ollie Scott, the founder of the recruitment firm Unknown, together with Cathy Hutton, executive creative director at the communications agency WPP, and Will Townsend, former managing global client partner at Facebook.
Comment: a great example of portfolio careerists supporting the not-for-profit sector and a useful connection for comms specialists in particular to consider
“The benefits of executive coaching are well-documented — as are the pitfalls. Once [your organisation has] retained a coach to work with members of your senior team, what can you do to help people get the most out of the experience? Of course, the success of the engagement rests largely on the coach’s skill and the executive’s willingness to learn and grow. But the sponsor (whether a CEO, an HR leader, or another senior executive), also plays a vital role“.
Comment: an insight into how not-for-profit organisations and external ‘coaches’ can work together
The Economist: the future of the office
”Most people associate the office with routine and conformity, but it is fast becoming a source of economic uncertainty and heated dispute. Around the world workers, bosses, landlords and governments are trying to work out if the office is obsolete—and are coming to radically different conclusions”.
Comment: paywalled, but a useful look in terms of the future of work. This could be one of the most important long term outcomes of the pandemic